


Hay Ride

by ShadowCrusade



Series: All Hallows Karma [12]
Category: RWBY
Genre: First Kiss, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Second Date, no beta because i can do the english good, these dorks are so cute they don diddly gon kill me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:48:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27113555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowCrusade/pseuds/ShadowCrusade
Summary: Day 12: Harvest FestivalIt's the first day of the festival in Patch and things are going in full swing. Qrow's happy at the festival and is even thrilled at the company he has by his side.Maybe todays the day that he'll finally score that first kiss by the proclaimed Lucky Charm
Relationships: Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi
Series: All Hallows Karma [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1950640
Comments: 5
Kudos: 35





	Hay Ride

**Author's Note:**

> WE HAVE THAT PURE FLUFF HERE YALL SO TAKE IT

The Hay Festival was in full swing by the time Qrow decided to make an appearance. His nieces tried to convince him to wear something more appropriate for the festival. Although, once he saw the cowboy gear they had picked out, Qrow had adamantly refused to wear. So, he compromised with his nieces and wore an unbuttoned flannel, white shirt, and jeans. It wasn’t his usual style, but he wanted to somewhat appease both of his nieces. 

Taiyang had offered to help Glynda with something which left Qrow alone with the two girls. The trio strutted around the various booths that the farmers had put up. Ruby currently browsed through some handmade crafts as Yang sifted through the different jewelry. Qrow was simply walking through, occasionally stopping at anything that may have caught his attention. 

Ruby joined his side soon after with a couple of things that were squirreled away in a small gift bag. She appeared to be pleased with herself as Qrow shrugged it off and they walked around some more. He figured she’d show him eventually what she bought, as long as it wasn’t another cursed doll he was sure it was fine. 

“You guys won’t believe what I found!” Yang yelled as she sprinted at the dark haired duo. “Look!” Yang held up a box in her hand. 

“Is that what I think it is?!” Ruby yelled in excitement. 

“If you’re thinking it’s the Harvest Festival Moon Horoscope then yeah it is!” Yang exclaimed as the two sisters jumped for joy. 

“...the what now?” Qrow asked. 

Yang held the box to him. “Check it.” She opened up the box and immediately things started to pop up. Much like a pop up book, there were different things that stood out with lots of bright colors to attract attention. “This book has different kinds of horoscopes depending on how you answer the questions on the trail.” She pointed to the railway that had a pop up train on it. “This book can also act as a fortune teller and can give you different kinds of advice from love to career.” 

“And you couldn’t just buy it at the store?” 

Yang and Ruby both looked offended. “Uncle Qrow!” Ruby whined. “This book is made here at the festival! Like handmade! There’s only so many copies that go on sale for the year. Yang and I have been trying to get this book for the past few years!” 

“And finally I managed to find the booth that had it before it could sell out!” Yang told him. “I literally got the last copy for this season.” 

“We lucked out!” Ruby cheered as the two sisters once again jumped with joy. Almost immediately they started playing with the book. No doubt trying to figure out what they could about their future using the book. 

“Sounds like they had a run in with good fortune.” A voice behind him said. Qrow immediately smiled. 

“Maybe, they needed a little bit of it today.” Qrow remarked as he turned his head slightly to address the voice. “I was wondering if you were gonna show up.” 

Clover chuckled. “We would have been here sooner but Marrow had a crisis.”

“Is he okay?” Qrow asked. He hadn’t gotten to know Harriet and Marrow as well as the kids did, but he still found himself considered for the young man at hearing he was distressed. 

Clover waved him off. “He’s fine. He was just being dramatic about something minor. Him and Elm.” 

“I wasn’t that dramatic!” Another voice yelled. Sure enough, the boy in question came into view. “It was a legit thing to be worried about!” 

“Marrow, you were worried about a plant.” Clover reminded him. 

“A lonely plant!”

“Marrow, it was fake.”

“It was still lonely!” The young man insisted. “All plants- fake or real- need to be loved!” 

“We are never watching ‘The Happening’ ever again.” Clover muttered under his breath as Qrow cackled. 

“Well according to this Marrow, it seems like you’ll have  _ ground _ yourself more in reality.” Yang smirked as Ruby groaned. 

“Careful Yang,” Clover warned. “We wouldn’t want to  _ plant _ any ideas in his head.” Yang howled with laughter as now Marrow, Ruby and Qrow all groaned. 

“I guess you could say it’s time to  _ weed _ out the weak?” Yang shot finger guns at Clover. 

“Please stop. The both of you.” Qrow begged as he buried his face in his hands. 

“Sounds like someone wants to  _ petal _ their way out of here.” Clover joked as Yang once again howled with laughter. 

“You’re both awful.” Marrow said, as he too was trying to hide from them. 

“We’re only  _ blossoming _ our talents.” Clover said as Qrow immediately tried to find the nearest vendor that would be interested in hiding a body.

Maybe two.

“Where are the rest of your friends?” Qrow asked. He hoped that it would redirect the conversation away from the current topic. 

Marrow, thankfully, seemed to pick up on that. “Vine is over by the green houses. Elm wanted to check out some of the blacksmiths that you guys have around right now. And I think Harriet was looking for you.” He pointed at Ruby. 

Ruby immediately put her fists up. “No doubt she’ll try to convince me to try and back out from tomorrow’s race.” She threw a fake jab, the fire in her eyes ignited. “But she won’t scare me!” Ruby declared. “I will win tomorrow’s color run!” 

“I seriously doubt it pipsqueak.” Harriet said as she approached. “If you think you can beat me, you’ve got another thing coming.” 

“The Color Run is about endurance!” Ruby pointed out. “You’re fast, but I can go the distance! You won’t beat me.”

“We’ll see about that kid.” The two young women eyed each other, fiercely confident in themselves for tomorrow’s race. Soon, the two of them went back to bickering with each other as Yang cheered her sister on. Marrow took to recording it, no doubt sending it to the others. Qrow took a quick look around and noticed something that would act as the perfect cover to get away from the kids. 

He lightly tapped Clover’s shoulder before the man could intervene with the two speedsters debate. Qrow gestured over to the wagons as Clover seemed to understand what he was doing. Quietly, the two men crept away from the group as they darted in between vendors. Once the two of them had successfully gotten away, they laughed as Qrow led the other man to follow him. 

“So, where are we going exactly?” Clover asked. 

“On a ride.” Qrow said. They approached the stack of hay bales as more of the wagons came into view. Qrow could see Taiyang as the man was currently on top of a horse. “Wait here for a sec?” Clover nodded. “Tai!” Qrow called to the man as the blonde in question turned to see Qrow. 

“Where are the girls?” Tai asked. 

“They found friends, so they’re with them.” Qrow explained. 

“So, what? You’re bothering me because you don’t have any?” Tai joked as Qrow rolled his eyes. Tai looked up for a brief moment before he did a double take. “Ohhh.” Tai said slowly. “You’re here with Clover. I knew it was too good to be true that you would make conversation with me willingly. 

“Shut up, you dork.” Qrow muttered as Taiyang laughed. 

“You’re taking on the Hay Ride right?” Tai asked. 

“What do you think?”

“Oh thank god.” Tai took his cowboy hat off to fan himself. “Good to know that you still have one functioning braincell in that stupid thick head of yours.”

“Fuck off!” Qrow yelled as he swatted at the man’s leg, careful not to hit the horse. 

“Here.” Tai gave him the two tickets that Qrow would need. “Have fun and all that jazz.” Tai remarked as Qrow shook his head at the other hand. 

“I’ll pay you later.” Qrow said. 

Tai shook his head. “You can pay me by telling life and bad luck to shove it for once and finally kiss the guy.” Qrow nearly stumbled over his feet. “The guy, Qrow! Not the ground!” Qrow glared at his best friend before he made his way back to Clover. 

“I didn’t know Taiyang worked at the festival.” Clover said as the two men walked over to the wagons.

“Normally, he doesn’t. But Bart had something come up so Tai filled in for him. A favor to Glynda.” Qrow told him as he handed the tickets to the employee at the entrance of the ride. 

“That’s nice of him to do.” Clover said as the wagon came by. “What’s with the hay?”

Qrow chuckled. “This is an old roller coaster that was built a long time ago. Typically, it’s in use during the spring and summer time, although they turn it back on during the festival for some fun.” 

“A roller coaster ride sounds fun.” Clover said as he sat down on a small stack of hay bales. “Not sure how it’s supposed to work with all this hay though.”

“Not quite a roller coaster.” Qrow said as he settled onto the stack with Clover. 

“What do you mean?”

“Well, they put in speed bumps to slow the ride down.” He explained. “Plus, the ride isn’t going at full speed. It’s more like enjoying the company, not the thrill kind of ride.” Clover nodded in understanding. “They take out the seats and detach the cars from their usual connection to create a more individual cart. They put the hay bales in to put more of that festival vibe into the ride. Plus, normally these wagon add-ons aren’t attached to the ride.”

“They aren’t?” 

“At the speed that this thing can go? They would just fly off. It’s more for decorative purposes.”

“To get into the spirit of things?” Clover suggested. Qrow nodded. “Well, that’s pretty cool. They definitely don’t have something like this in Atlas.” 

“It’s too cold to enjoy anything up there.” Qrow stated as Clover laughed. 

The ride started as the wagon they were seated in slowly descended away from their starting point. Both of the men had sat towards the back of the individual cart giving their legs some much needed room. The wind that blew past them from the ride was enjoyable. It was enough to cause Qrow’s hair to shift with the wind, but not enough for him to hide his face in his shirt to be able to breathe. 

“This ride leads into the forest?” Clover asked. Qrow nodded. “Oh wow. That’s something I’ve never experienced.”

“Atlas doesn’t have trees, last that I checked.” Clover lightly jabbed Qrow’s shoulder. “Yeah, it leads into the Cliffside forest a bit more. Although, it doesn’t go through the tunnel at the moment.”

“Why?”

A piece of hay flew up in Qrow’s face. “Safety hazard-fucking hay.” He swatted them away. The ride continued as Qrow more or less played tour guide of the forest to Clover. He pointed out some of the more noticeable features in the forest such as; the trails, the campgrounds, and also Tai’s house that they could see the higher and deeper they went into the forest. 

The cart was currently approaching a steep hill. The biggest thrill of the whole ride. Even with the speedbumps, it still went fast enough that hay would undoubtedly fly into their face. Qrow almost dreaded the inevitable hay that would fly into his face, but at the same time at least he wouldn’t be alone to suffer. Clover was still overlooking the scenery on the island of Patch when they almost reached the top. 

Qrow nudged him. The brunette’s attention immediately refocused towards Qrow. “Brace yourself.”

“Fast part?”

“Well that, and all the hay that’s gonna start flyin’” Qrow told him. The cart reached the peak of the hill and they both admired the view for a brief moment. The hill wasn’t as tall as a mountain, but it was tall enough to where almost all of Patch could be seen from their vantage point. 

Then, the ride dropped into their descent. 

Clover immediately latched onto Qrow, as he completely forgot Qrow’s warning from earlier. Qrow laughed as he leaned back a bit for some balance. He didn’t feel like face planting into the cart again like he did last year. The ride continued it’s descent downwards with a few turns. True enough to Qrow’s prediction, some stray strands of hay flew up and blew past the two men. The speed in the ride quickly dissipated as the ride settled back down into the flatter landscape. 

“Okay, now that’s my favorite part of the ride.” Clover told as he slowly detached himself from Qrow. “I’m surprised there aren’t more people on this ride.” 

“That’s usually for later in the evening. More people will show up and soon half the festival is on this ride.” Qrow told him. Although, he neglected to tell Clover the part where this ride had the stereotype for being a couple’s ride. He wasn’t going to tell him that...yet. 

“So, is that your favorite part of the ride?” 

Qrow shook his head. “Nope.”

“It’s not?” Clover seemed surprised. “I would have thought for sure that would have been it.”

“Around this time of year? Nope. Although, we’re getting there.” Qrow said as they approached closer to his favorite spot. The ride continued with a few minutes of silence. It wasn’t awkward, just another way to enjoy their surroundings. 

He noticed that while Clover had detached himself from Qrow, the distance between them hadn’t grown. The space that should have been between them was non-existent as their shoulders, arms, and their thighs were lightly pressed against each other. He also noted that Clover seemed to be conscious of that as well. Anytime he would move away from Clover, just a tad, the other man would once again close the distance. It wasn’t unwelcome, and Qrow stopped moving away from him. 

_ This might be the perfect chance. _ He thought to himself as the trees started to thicken. It was getting dark within the treeline and Qrow knew they were almost there. It was dark in the tree line, they could barely see one another as the moonlight was the only thing that could grant them sight. The setting of the situation would almost be creepy if it weren’t for the warm breeze that comforted them. 

“Is that...a fire?” Clover asked as a new light just ahead peaked through some of the trees. There was a warm orange glow that could be seen through the bramble. It almost reminded Qrow of the sunset, the way it glowed through the trees. 

“No. This is my favorite part of the ride.” The ride made a slow right turn before descending on another small hill. The warm glow became much more prevalent as they got closer to it. Soon, the ride made a gradual turn underneath some arching trees and into a new clearing. 

The lanterns that lit up the trailway were in the count of dozens. Some of the lanterns hung off the branches that were stretched closer to the cart’s path. Other lanterns were placed on the ground, different emblems and designs etched carefully onto the small lanterns. Within the area of the lanterns, fireflies were seen flying about, their small bursts of light added to the magic of the area. Qrow heard Clover let out a small gasp as the beauty of the area revealed itself. The ride continued forward, more lanterns were revealed, with more of the fireflies that joined them. The fireflies almost reminded Qrow of the embers of a dying fire. 

He glanced over at his companion, who was in awe of the new area. Clover was looking up at the lanterns that dangled above them. The lights slowly swayed with the small breeze that followed them through the green archway. The green in his eyes radiated with wonder as the orange glow cast itself onto fair skin. 

Qrow leaned in closer to Clover, the other man unaware of the closeness. “Qrow, this is beautiful.” Clover had said. “I can see why...” Clover trailed off when he turned to face the other man. 

Once again, the two men’s faces were close to one another. That same closeness that first appeared in the darkness of the asylum. The same closeness that dribbled back in during the small rain. The same closeness that had reignited now, under the warmth of the lanterns. 

Clover’s half-lidded eyes briefly looked into Qrow’s own red eyes. The faint glow from the lanterns reflected in the other man’s eyes. He leaned in, closing the distance between their lips. The touch between their lips was soft, a light pressure for a few brief moments. Qrow pulled back, to look at the man in front of him. Clover stared back as the distance between them closed once more. Their lips melded against each other as Qrow deepened the kiss. He lightly thumbed Clover’s cheek as the man leaned into the touch. 

He wasn’t sure how long the two of them had spent just simply kissing each other, when the two finally parted. They were away from the lanterns and on their way back to the festival. Qrow could hear the laughter from people in the festival. They weren’t quite in sight of the festival just yet. The cart was still hidden by the treeline. 

“Looks like we’re almost back.” Qrow’s voice was hoarse. He cleared his throat. “Do you think anybody missed us?”

“Maybe Elm did.” Clover said, his voice low. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she ripped up the festival looking for me.”

“Sounds a little excessive.”

“She’s done it before.” Clover stated, the look in his eyes briefly haunted, as if remembering the first time it happened. Qrow laughed at the expression on the other man’s face. He could only imagine what the taller woman had done to try and find her best friend. 

“I can only imagine...” Qrow let his words trail off as he leaned into Clover once. “One more before you face the wrath of your best friend?”

“Let’s hope she doesn’t murder me so I can enjoy more of these.” 

Qrow laughed as they kissed once more. 


End file.
